Out Lasted Them All
by GwenPhoenix
Summary: It is Christmas and Daniel remembers friends past. Hanky warning.


**This time of year always gets me a little melancholy. So here is a little angsty Christmas story about family and friends. I should warn you, it is a little of a hanky warning. There is character death.**

**A review would be a great present! It keeps me writing and warms my Scrooge. **

Daniel's pressed his forehead against the window pane of his home office and watched his breath fog the glass. Snow piled up on the ground outside causing everything to have an ethereal quality. Christmas carols echoed through the halls of his home.

So many years had passed. Massaging his arthritic hands, trying to find warmth where there was none, he thought back. His team. His friends. His family. The people that meant the world to him. He had out lived them all.

The irony was not lost on him. He, who by the end of a thirty year tour of duty died eight times, had survived everyone. Letting out a short phlegm tainted chuckle, he brought forward the last moments of everyone that mattered.

His parents; killed due to negligence.

Sha're; released from the torment of the Goa'uld by Teal'c.

Nicholas, his Grandfather; leaving with the aliens of the Crystal Skull, never to be seen again.

Janet Fraiser; killed in the line of duty, saving the life of a father to be.

Salmack and Jacob Carter; staying alive long enough to help rid the universe of the Replicator plague.

George Hammond. The man that he had regarded as a kind of Uncle, died of a heart attack. The ship bearing his name still flies the stars.

Teal'c of Chulak. The man who was once his enemy, became a close friend. The calm balance of his group of friends. His guardian. Around the age of 200 (no one knows exactly how old he was), battling the final of the Goa'uld, Teal'c was cut down in battle, a smile gracing his stoic features. It was a warriors death.

Jack O'Neill. His best friend. A brother in all but blood. After resolving his issues with Sara, they got back together, moved to his Montana cabin and got their lives on track. Daniel still envies how well Jack had aged. The last years of his life were happy, until Sara was killed in a car accident. After that, Jack was never the same. On the anniversary of her death, Jack O'Neill fell asleep on his couch and never woke up. He was found three days later by Daniel and Sam, a picture of his late wife clutched in his hand.

Samantha Carter. His sister. After an early retirement, she threw herself into caring for her newly formed family. Marrying a handyman from Denver and becoming a stepmother to twin boys, she lived her life day to day. Finding happiness in the small moments, she was Daniel's inspiration. The last living connection to the fantastic life he had lived, they had clung to one another. When Sam was diagnosed with the same inoperable cancer as her father, she refused any treatment. She asked only for pain medicine and to be able to walk through the Stargate once more. She died shortly after, her family surrounding her hospital bed.

Wiping fresh tears from his weathered cheeks, Daniel turned his sight away from the window. In the doorway, framed by soft light, was his wife. To this day, even with her hair as white as the snow outside, she still made his heart pound in his chest. It was hard to believe that once they hated one another. He smiled as more memories washed over him.

"Come to the dining room, darlin'," Her soft southern accent enticed him, "Mel just got here with his brood and Cassie is threatening to start dinner without you. "

Eager to see his youngest child and grandchildren, he shuffled his way to his wife, accepting her support until he could wrap his hand around the handle of his cane.

Christmas was his favorite time of year. Wrapped in the memories of the past and making new memories of the future, time always seemed to stand still. The house was always filled with laughter and lingering smells of baking ham and cinnamon.

Sitting among loved ones, watching the children open presents while the adults drank what he was sure was spiked eggnog, he knew his life had the perfect ending.

That night, after seeing his children out the door to their own homes, being sure to tell them all how much he loved them, he went to sleep with a smile on his face. Never to wake up again.

**No mention of Cam or Vala because, frankly, I did not like that part of the story. What do you think?**


End file.
